No One Knows But You AAML
by El Toro
Summary: In a parallel univerese where pokemon do not exist, Ash is all alone with no one to depend on. That is, until he enrolls into a boarding school where he meets a certain readhead for the first time...
1. Part 1 Sunday

**No One Knows But You**

**Sunday:**

Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat.

The sounds of slow footsteps echoed through the dark and empty hallway. Closed doors looked on silently as a dark haired teenage boy walked slowly down the hall with his hands in his blue denim jacket as he looked down at his black and white sneakers solemnly.

"I'm Ash Ketchum, the Nobody Boy, _**the Boy that Nobody Cares About or Cares to Listen to**_," he thought sadly to himself. His life had always seemed to be impossible to him since his childhood, even dating back to the day he'd been born… From the second he had started his life in the outside world, he had already lost his mother as she sacrificed all of her energy to giving him to the light. After coping with the absence of his mother his whole childhood, his father was killed in a town fire when he was seven as he pushed Ash outside of their house before it collapsed on top of him. He had lost everything that day: his father who was the only one he had left in the world, his only home, all of his friends, all burnt to Ashes before his eyes…

He shook the nightmarish memories away as he approached a wooden door. He needed to snap back to normal. He was going to start all over, build up a new life in this boarding school he had found out after _**living on the road for ten years**_. He had lived on the roads for years since he was too scared to go back to society. Never did he want to go near anyone again, not after that day… Why? Just so he could bring destruction to everyone else? Just so he could lose everything he had fought for so hard all over again?

But he knew he had to do something with his life... What would his father or his mother think of him if they had seen him now; a bum on the road with no home or friends?

He twisted the doorknob of the wooden door and he took a deep breath. He slowly opened the door and stepped into the classroom. The room was encased in silence. Everyone stared at him with curiosity as to who he was or with agitation for disrupting their school lesson.

"Excuse me, what is your name?" the teacher questioned as she furrowed her brow, looking at him between a pair of thick spectacles. She was a woman in her early forties though her appearance didn't reflect it. Her light brown hair was thinning and her thin face was giving in to the wearing effects of time as well as her portly body. He opened his mouth to speak, but she quickly interrupted him.

"Oh, I see… You're the new transfer student," she said as she quickly turned away from him to busy herself with something else, as if she didn't care about him. She sifted through the papers on her desk as Ash stood in front of the door, fidgeting nervously with his red and white cap since he wasn't permitted to wear hats indoors. He felt everyone's eyes center in on him and he began to sweat as he grew even more anxious.

"Um...Excuse me Miss?" he said quietly. She didn't hear him as she mumbled to herself as she looked through her papers for his file. He repeated himself in a louder tone, but she still didn't say anything though it was apparent that everyone else had heard him since they were all staring at him blankly.

"Miss Goodwill?" A girl raised her hand as she looked up at the teacher. Ash turned to look at who had spoken and froze as he saw who it was. He stared at her, as if he was mystified by her appearance. Everything that was happening at the moment was now silenced out as he gazed at this girl. She had beautiful red hair that she kept tied up in a small ponytail that she wore to the side. Blue-green eyes that reflected the sea as if he could swim in them… A gentle smile that brought light to any night…

"EXCUSE ME!!!" Miss Goodwill yelled at the top of her voice as she distorted her face to furious proportions. Ash quickly snapped out of his trance and instantly felt embarrassed with himself for staring at that girl like that. He didn't know what came over him…

"Well since I see you're _so_ infatuated with Miss Waterflower, I don't see why you shouldn't take a seat right next to her. If you would Mister Thomas, please relocate yourself elsewhere so our new visitor here could sit next to his _object of admiration_," she said with sweeping gestures of her hand. The 'Thomas' that she was referring to stood up from his chair with a look of annoyance and, as Ash went to claim his seat, bumped into him intentionally. The papers that were in Ash's arms after just receiving them from the teacher fell down and scattered all over the floor. Everyone erupted into laughter as he began to pick up his belongings quickly, not able to bear all this attention that he drew to himself after living so long in obscurity. He gathered his papers into one neat pile and sat down in his chair, looking intently at the white sheets, as he didn't want to look at anyone else. He could feel the red headed girl looking at him and, from the corner of his eye, he could see that he was right. She looked at him at first then turned to see if the teacher was looking. Once she saw that the coast was clear, she turned to him again.

"Psst! Hey! What's your name?" she whispered quietly with a smile on her face. Ash turned to face her. Everything about her seemed to radiate even though the windows were all blinded from the bright day outside.

"…Ash Ketchum." He hadn't said that name in _such_ a long time. If it weren't for the fact that it was also his father's name, he surely would've forgotten it by now.

"_**Ash?**_ That's a funny name!" she giggled. He bowed his head in embarrassment. Why was this girl so interested in him? Out of everyone in the whole room she could speak to, she had to choose him…

"Do you have something you wish to share with the whole class, Miss Waterflower? Or would you like to talk with your friend there after class in detention?" the teacher said in an authoritative tone that seemed more like she was making a statement than asking a question.

"Well I was wondering why you hadn't introduced _**Ash**_ yet," the red headed girl replied.

"Who?" Miss Goodwill said not willing to play guessing games in the middle of her math class.

"_**Ash!**_" the girl said pointing towards the dark haired boy sitting next to her. He felt everyone's eyes burn on him again and he covered the back of his head as if it helped him keep everyone's eyes off of him.

"Oh, you mean our visitor here. Well, I'm sorry then, I guess I'll take some time out of our lesson just so we can introduce this _one _student!" Miss Goodwill replied sarcastically, turning back to the blackboard to resume her lesson on Algebraic equations. By now, Ash had felt like the lowest of all things imaginable and he felt like this should be the last place he should be. He buried his head into his arms and pretended to not move at all, like a stone, so he could let the world pass by him.

"Well his name is _**Ash Ketchum!**_" Misty replied crossly as she glared up at her teacher.

"Yes, yes, that's fine, now onto the lesson shall we?"

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Ash walked sullenly out of the class once the bell rang. Math class was torturous as he attempted to catch up on the lesson that she was currently teaching. It had been so long since he was in a class. He remembered the basics he had learned in preschool, but that was it. He tried telling that to the director of the St. Delia's Boarding School, but he had completely ignored him to the point where Ash just gave up. Even if he tried to tell her to slow down, Ash knew she would probably ignore him and continue on with the lesson as if nothing was said. He sighed sadly and continued to walk down the lonely hallway. It was now time for their lunch break and everyone was either in the cafeteria or outside gathered in their own little groups. Ash was by himself since no one seemed interested enough to talk to him. Everyone, except that red haired girl that is… He didn't even ask her what her name was and now he felt incredibly stupid for not doing so. He messed up on his only chance to meet someone new… And plus, she was pretty cute…

"_Wait, what am I thinking?!_" Ash thought to him self. "_I don't know what's_ _come over me ever since I met that girl… Well whatever it is, I got to stop or else I know the same thing will happen over again. __**I'll just wind up losing her…**_" Upon going over his last comment, he stomped on the hard wooden floor of the hall and stopped where he was standing. His stomach growled and he grasped it as he felt it rumble inside his body. He had to get something to eat. He turned the corner at the end of the hallway and walked down the staircase at the end that led to the cafeteria.

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He stepped into the lunch line and took a white tray at the beginning of the metal tray line. Women in hairnets stood at the other side of the food line with ladles in their hand ready to slop that poor excuse they called food they were serving onto the student's tray. He took some pureed green stuff that looked like it had blended from an assortment of week-old leftovers as well as some chicken fingers and he walked towards the end of the line where an old lady in a hairnet waited for the students to swipe their ID so their food could be charged to the school's account. Ash reached the old lady and she asked him for his ID. He took out a small white ID with his blurry picture on it and she scanned the barcode on the front to check if it was valid.

"I'm sorry, but your ID wasn't accepted. Leave your food at the beginning of the line please," she replied in a squeaky voice. She signaled for the student behind him to come forward, but Ash wasn't moving.

"But… what do you mean that my ID wasn't accepted? There has to be another way," Ash replied desperately as he could feel how empty his stomach was. The old lady was about to scold him for being insubordinate, but suddenly a red haired student stepped forward and gave the lady an ID card.

"Here he can use mine," she said softly as the old lady shrugged and took the ID card from her. Ash's mouth was left open in shock. Why was this girl so nice to him? She turned to look at him, but he quickly looked away in order to avoid her absorbing eyes. The old lady was done scanning the ID and turned to Ash impatiently,

"Well come on young man, we don't have all day! Get off the line so the other students can get their food!" Ash snapped back to his senses and he went to retrieve his food when the red haired girl stepped forward and took the tray.

"Ah! This is _my_ food, if you recall correctly," she teased with a smirk. "If you want this food, just follow me." She walked past him giggling to herself as she exited through the doors before throwing him one last glance. He felt his heart sink, but he knew this was the perfect opportunity to find out who this girl really was and _**figure out her intentions**_…

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The sun shone brightly on the green hill at the back of the boarding school. Ash walked through the back door and looked around for the red haired girl until he spotted her waiting for him at the base of the hill. Once she spotted him, she waved her hand in the air and signaled for him to come closer. He followed her as she waited for him until he got closer. Then she started to walk up the hill before he could reach her with tray in hand as he looked back at her hopelessly. He lowered his head and began to follow her, his stomach growling ferociously all the while he was walking towards her.

He finally reached the top of the hill and found his tray lying on the ground all by itself next to a lonely tree that sat at the top of the hill. He knelt down and went to pick up the tray when the red haired girl leaped from behind the tree. She yelled loudly which startled him and he fell backwards as she laughed mischievously.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it," she said smiling as she offered her hand to him. He felt embarrassed with himself as he took her hand. She didn't lift him up though; rather she began to drag him closer to the tree and, before he could do anything about it, she had him trapped between her arms as she sat down right next to him. Ash squirmed uncomfortably as she leaned over him to pick up his tray, causing her to giggle.

"Why are you so shy?" she replied with a small smile as she took a chicken finger and nibbled on it. He avoided her gaze by looking straight at his black and white sneakers and shrugged awkwardly; he could feel her eyes burning into him as well as her hot breath on his face. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes; she was extremely close to his face as if she could look into him and find out all she wanted to know just by standing close to him. She finally sat back and released her trap on him by removing her arms from around him. He stood up with food tray in hand and was about to leave when he heard her soft voice speak once again,

"Don't leave me yet_**…Ash**_." That name… It froze him in his steps and he turned around to look at her. Her sea green eyes pleaded with him and he felt himself being dragged closer to her without even being aware of it. He gave in and sat right next to her as he began to eat his food all the while gazing at the view from the top of the hill. It overlooked a wide city that was complete with tiny suburban houses overshadowed by tall buildings and modern cars that traveled quietly across the streets with people packed onto the sidewalks. The city was still and quiet as his eyes passed over the brown rooftops of the small houses. A gentle wind passed and it rustled the leaves of the tree slightly, carrying two sole leaves and carrying them to the vast city.

He turned to look at her and he saw that she had been staring at him the whole time. He quickly turned away as he blushed slightly as Misty looked back at him, curiously smiling. She leaned closer to him and she spoke softly and gently.

"So _**Ash**_, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" He turned to face her and could feel his blood rushing to his head as his heart beat rapidly in his chest.

"Well what about you? You haven't even told me your name! Why are you so interested in me anyway?! I'm nobody! Why should-" She placed her finger on his lips as she smiled. He was instantly quieted and he calmed down as she turned to look at the cloudless blue sky.

"My name is _**Misty**_. _**Misty**_ Waterflower if you didn't know by now," she said still gazing dreamily at the sky. "And well the reason I'm so interested in you is…" She paused for a moment and drifted off into space as she looked blankly up at the sky yet with a faint look of deep thought, until she snapped out of it and turned to look at him. "You're just _so_ cute!" She pinched his cheek playfully as he turned a deep red. She let go of his cheek and leaned back on the trunk of the tree, smiling slightly as her cheeks were tinted a faint pink until she turned serious and began to go back into her state of pensiveness.

He decided to leave it off there; he was too embarrassed to continue the conversation anymore and he didn't feel like disrupting her thoughts so he leaned back on the tree as well, staring out to the city below known as Cerulean City. She stared at the sky once more before she realized something and began to search the pockets of her blue shorts. She pulled out a small light blue palm sized notebook and opened it up. She smiled warmly as she looked at the contents of her notebook. Ash looked over Misty's shoulder curiously and she looked at him before turning back towards the notebook.

"You want to know more about me? Here look," she shifted closer to Ash and opened the notebook. His eye's widened as he looked over what was on the paper. Carefully sketched out on the paper was something unlike he had ever seen before. A star-like creature with a shaded gem in the middle of its body was drawn out, expertly drawn with effects to make it appear 3 dimensional and meticulously shaded to give it depth. Ash looked up at her and she turned the page for him as she began to explain,

"Whenever I have any free time, I make these drawings. I guess you would call it a hobby," she added with that beautiful smile that would suck Ash's breath from his body. He looked over the other sketch on the next page: a short rodent looked back with a small smirk on its face. It had black eyes and a lightning bolt shaped tail with long pointy ears and short arms and legs. Ash was especially entranced with this picture: there was something _**specific**_about this creature that attracted his attention so much…

"Do you have a name for these things?" Ash asked, still focusing intently on the chubby rodent.

"Yeah, I call them _**Pocket Monsters**_." He looked back at her strangely.

"What kind of name is that?"

"Well I always keep this notebook in my pocket and I chose monsters because, well if you take a look at the next page…" She flipped the sketch of the yellow rodent to reveal a terrifying drawing that made Ash jump backwards as if he was electrocuted. A tall cat-like creature was pictured standing up on its two hind legs with its skinny arms reared back, charging some kind of energy ball in between its palms. It had a long tail that reached the back of its body and it had a strange tube coming from its back to its head. What terrified Ash the most of this monster were its eyes. Its eyes were fierce and full of power and scorn. The sketch was drawn powerfully with bold black lines outlining the shape of this monster with a minimum amount of shading. Ash turned to her and he could see that she was also looking thoughtfully at her drawing.

"I was having a _really_ bad time on that day… It was as if it just sprung from my pencil and onto the paper." Misty recalled somberly as she looked over Ash's shoulder at her drawing. Chills were sent down his spine as he continued to look at it until Misty took the notebook from his hand after she saw how much it unnerved him. He slowly regained his composure as she put the book in her pocket.

"Come on Ash, I think it's time to go back." She extended her hand to help him back up. The sun caught her hair and she shone brilliantly in Ash's eyes. He remained where he was sitting, entranced by her with his mouth wide open, and she glanced around awkwardly. He realized suddenly how he stupid he must've looked because he quickly turned away and hid his embarrassment from her by hiding his face with his hat. She blushed, but she lightly kicked him in the shin and quickly pulled him up by the wrist as he reached forward to grab his leg in pain. He paused for a moment as he looked her squarely in the eyes before she turned him around and began to push him down the hill, back to the boarding school and back to class.

"You don't want to be late now do you, _**Ash?**_"

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The day had gone by slowly, but Ash had managed to make it through the rest of his classes. Misty was in all of his classes and she had been the light out of what would've been a dark day for Ash. Once the final bell had rung, he stayed with Misty for a while to see what was next now that classes were finished. They stood outside of the classroom as she leaned against the brick wall of the hallway as people passed her by, throwing her strange looks as she spoke with 'the new guy,' as Ash was known.

"So now what do we do?" Ash asked, messing around with his cap by crumpling it up.

"Well, now, people usually go eat dinner then go back to their rooms and do their homework and fall asleep. And if I recall, you've got _a lot_ of homework to do young man!" She poked him playfully in the side and he jumped as she laughed out loud. She then turned around and said goodbye as she waved at him. He waved back and smiled though deep down he was sad to see her leave.

She was already becoming what he dreaded and feared the most: someone who actually _mattered _to him.


	2. Part 2 Wednesday

Author's Notes: I forgot to include these notes to the first chapter since I'm kind of new to this.

The _italicized _and **bolded **words are hints as to what the surprise ending will be as well as hints that relate to Pokeshipping since I made this story on April 1st 2007, Pokeshipping's tenth anniversary. Have fun trying to guess what these words mean:)

**Wednesday**

Ash opened the door to his bedroom after just waking up; well actually, it was more like a broom closet than an actual bedroom, but as long as he had his privacy amongst the three of his roommates, he was alright with it. He stretched his sore back and his muscles lazily and crawled out of his 'room.' He began to walk towards the kitchen only to see his roommates and a couple of their friends huddled around in a circle inside. Two of his roommates stood up and walked quickly towards him before Ash could get away.

"Say roomie, why don't you take a quick shower? Come on don't be shy…" Before he could do anything about it, they shoved him into the bathroom and held the door closed so he couldn't get out. After banging on the door for a few minutes, he gave up and sighed as he undressed himself. He _hated _to take showers after just waking up, but he didn't have another choice. He stepped into the shower and turned on the key. The water fell onto his face and it was _freezing cold_. He shrieked and jumped suddenly, causing him to slip and fall in the bathtub, bumping his head against the hard white floor of the round tub.

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After leaving the bathroom with a splitting headache, he crept slowly out of the dorm room, trying not to disturb his roommates who were in the middle of a soda chugging contest. He closed the door behind him with a sigh and he looked around at his surroundings. The dim hallway was vacant and there was not a sound made. That was because today was one of the few days that the students of St. Delia Academy could get a break from their hard school life and have some free time to them selves. Ash passed his hand through his hair as he stood still in the middle of the hallway thinking what he was going to do for the rest of the day. He sure wasn't going to go back into his dorm room… He felt like he had only one option left:

"_I wonder what Misty is doing right now?_"

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He looked over intently a small piece of crumpled paper he was holding in his hand as he walked through the hallway. The note had a name and room number scribbled across it with an XOXO at the end of it, written completely in light blue ink. He had crossed from the boys' dormitory into the girls' dormitory and there were a few stragglers left behind talking amongst each other. He did his best to avoid bumping into anyone of them until he could reach his destination. He approached a door marked _**4107**_. He looked at his paper and saw that it matched the number on it. He gulped nervously and he put his hand on the door. It shook slightly and his heart was beating like a maniac, but he managed to find the courage to knock on the door. After a few seconds, a red headed girl opened the door with a quizzical look on her face. Her light blue toothbrush was still in her mouth and she was wearing nothing, but a small pink towel on her body and another one that was wrapped around her head. It took a moment for each of them to notice who they were looking at. Misty's eyes widened and she slammed the door as she blushed madly. He snapped back to reality and he shook his head and rubbed his eyes as if he didn't believe what he had just seen.

"ASH WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! DON'T YOU KNOW THIS IS THE GIRL'S DORM?!" A voice came yelling at him from the other side of the door. Ash instantly felt himself turning red as he felt everyone in the hallway focus on him. He hid his face underneath his cap as he replied in a soft voice,

"Yeah I know, but I was wondering what you were going to do today…" An awkward silence passed before the door cracked open slightly and her head appeared from the slight opening.

"Really?" she whispered slightly unsure the toothbrush gone from her mouth. He nodded with a guilty look on his face as he looked up at her from underneath his cap. She closed the door then quickly opened it again, ushering him in. He stepped in quickly and he shut the door behind him as Misty rushed to her room.

Once he saw that there was nobody else in the room he made himself comfortable on one of the living room couches. It was extremely soft and it sucked him in as he took a seat on it. He laid back into it more as he felt himself drifting off into sleep; Misty's humming from the other room faint and far away…

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_**A pair of blue green eyes looked back at him. Everything else was blurry and he couldn't make out where he was. He felt as if he was lying on the ground and he continued to stare into those turquoise eyes. They looked back with concern and they began to slowly fade away. He tried to lift himself closer to those eyes, but he couldn't muster the strength. He pushed himself harder and before he knew it, the ground had disappeared and he was falling forward into the darkness.**_

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Ash landed face forward onto the ground after falling off of the couch. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a pair of red and white sneakers directly in front of him. He looked up and saw Misty looking down at him with concern _**just like the eyes in his dream**_. He quickly picked himself off the ground and turned away from her, blushing slightly. She smiled as she stared him right in the eyes.

"Were you having a bad dream or are you falling for me?" He blushed even more and her cheeks were tinged a light pink seeing his reaction. She giggled and pushed him onto the couch playfully as she walked to the kitchen area.

"So Romeo, do you want some breakfast or not?"

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After finishing a big breakfast which included two servings of scrambled eggs, pancakes, and hot chocolate, they had left the room and were now on their way out of the school after agreeing that both of them did not want to remain in the school for the rest of the day. They reached the front door and walked through the glass double doors. Upon reaching outside, the sun greeted them warmly with its golden rays. The sky was clear blue with clouds gathered here and there, but the temperature was just perfect and Misty smiled happily as she stretched her arms. Mid-stretch she turned to him eagerly and smiled widely.

"Ash I just got the perfect idea! Why don't we go visit my house? It's pretty close by and I can show you the town as we get there," she asked pleadingly. He couldn't say no to those aquamarine eyes so he smiled and nodded while placing his red and white cap on his head. She smiled and she yelled happily as she took the hat off of Ash's head and ran off with it in her hand. He quickly chased after her, in close pursuit, _**yet not close enough to catch her**_…

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White houses watched on slowly as two figures passed them. The green trees swayed lightly while the gentle wind caressed their body. Birds sung harmoniously and the weather was lazily warm and friendly. Ash and Misty were walking down a white sidewalk that cut in between an aisle of trees as they talked quietly amongst each other even though there was no one else around them.

"So Misty how long have you been living here?" Ash asked breaking the sudden silence that had invited itself to their conversation. She tilted her head up and thought for a minute before answering.

"I'd have to say I've been living in Cerulean City for all my life, but I've only been in the boarding school for _**four**_ _**years**_…" Ash looked back at her curiously.

"So who do you live with then?"

"I live with my sister, but since it's just me and her, it's kind of hard to maintain a living." She turned away and remained quiet as if there was something troubling her. He merely shrugged it off and continued to admire their serene surroundings. They had now exited the park and were entering into a quiet neighborhood with small suburban houses on each side of the street. As they approached the street, Misty paused suddenly. She stood still as her eyes focused on the street corner. Ash looked at her unsurely then turned to look at the street signs. They read: _**Garden Court**_ and _**Yellow Lane**_. Before he could ask her if she was lost, she quickly crossed the street, beckoning for him to follow her before she could think twice. He followed her as she ran ahead until she stopped in front of a bright yellow house. She turned around to look at Ash. Her face was no longer smiling, but much more serious as if she regretted the fact that she had brought him to her home. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of silver keys. She searched for the right one and inserted it into the doorknob. She twisted it slowly and as she unlocked the door, she stopped once again and looked thoughtfully down at the doorknob. She sighed deeply and opened the door.

She walked through the door slowly and turned around to look at Ash as he followed closely behind her, extremely curious what was waiting in her home. Once he passed through, Misty closed the door behind her and turned to look at everything with remorse. All of the dark blue curtains were closed and the lights were completely turned off. The floor was covered with garbage and the small kitchen by the living room was covered with dirty pots and dishes. Ash stared at the house in horror then turned to look at Misty if she was equally surprised. Her face remained serious and blank yet inside she was in an emotional turmoil.

Suddenly quick footsteps could be heard from upstairs and Ash turned quickly to face whatever was coming down the stairs. The wooden steps creaked and groaned as weight was put on them. From behind the stairs, a blonde haired girl stepped off of the stairs with a dazed and confused look, wondering who was in the house when she recognized her redheaded sister who was looking at her reproachfully.

"What are _you _doing here?" she sneered, her long unkempt hair covering her face.

"Last time I remembered this was my house too, _sis_," Misty replied coldly. The blonde sister's blue eyes switched from looking at Misty to Ash. She nodded towards him without even turning to look at him as she muttered,

"Who's this?"

"This is _**Ash**_, a friend of mine from school," Misty said, not taking her eyes off of her sister.

"What are you still doing there? I thought you were actually going to do something useful and look for a job," Misty's sister said with agitation. Those comments had a great impact on Misty like a dagger in her heart because she stayed quiet before rushing up the stairs without turning to look at anyone. Ash looked at Misty as she ran up the stairs then at her sister. She looked back at him coldly yet indifferent, her blonde hair running down her face. Ash looked away and ran up the stairs so he could see what was wrong with Misty.

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The room was dark and silent. A sole bed in the middle of the room carried a crying girl who sobbed into the filthy bed sheets that hadn't been washed in ages. She paused from her sobbing to look at her room. She remembered leaving her room completely clean and spotless to the last detail. Now as she looked at it, everything was a mess: picture frames were shattered on the floor, old photographs burnt and singed and torn into pieces, papers were scattered about… It all pained her so much to see, especially from the fact that she knew she wasn't the one who had caused the mess. Her eyes welled with tears once again and she resumed crying into her filthy covers.

A silent knock at the door. She looked up and in a quavering voice replied,

"W-who is it?" There was a brief silence before the faint answer,

"…Are you okay Misty?" She instantly recognized it as Ash's voice and felt guilty for inviting him into her nightmare.

"Yeah," she said in a faint whisper, and then reluctantly, "Do you want to come in?" The doorknob turned after a brief pause and Ash walked into the room unsurely. He instantly stepped on a picture frame and he lifted his foot in surprise. Misty sprang from the bed and quickly picked up the picture. The photo was still in it and as her eyes passed over it, her heart began to ache again and she sat down on the floor and burst into tears. Ash went to her side and tried to console her. He lifted her off the floor and placed her on the bed as she tried to fight back her tears. After she was bit calmer, Ash decided to try and comfort her.

"Misty…What's wrong?" He looked gently into her eyes and tried to make some eye contact with her. Slowly she turned to look at him. She handed the picture that was in her hand to him and quickly looked away. He took the photo in hand and looked over it.

_**A purple haired girl was on the far left of the picture with her shoulder around a younger red head. Right next to the red head was a pink haired girl that smiled brightly as she waved happily towards the camera. Looming over them was a blonde haired girl that wrapped her arms around all of them in a tight hug. **_

"That was a picture that we had taken so many years ago…" Misty said as she began to recount sadly. "To my left and right…those used to be my two sisters." Ash turned to her with surprise, but she continued with the story, wiping her nose with her arm as a tear slid slowly down her face. "_**We used to be a family**_… _**Nobody could separate us**_." She smiled at the thought, but quickly wiped the memory away so she could _**make the reality less impactful**_.

"…"

Misty drew a breath and sighed deeply. She continued in a quiet tone as she stared blankly at the floor,

"…They were killed in a fire." Ash gulped nervously. _**They had so many things in common**_, he was now completely certain that there was some _**kind of connection between this girl and him**_. They were both quiet, staring at the floor in silent agony. Misty fidgeted nervously on the bed as Ash _**tried to wrap his mind around Misty and her character**_. She stood up suddenly from the bed and walked quickly towards the door. She closed it slowly so as not to make a sound then turned around. Her eyes were filled with tears and she was shaking uncontrollably.

"It was Daisy…It was Daisy!" She burst into tears and began to sob uncontrollably as she curled up into her body. Ash rushed to her side and picked her up as she continued to wail out loud. He sat her on the bed once again and rubbed her back gently to try and comfort her. After a few minutes, she collected herself and she was able to continue to talk though she still sniffled and her breathing was very labored.

"It was a dark afternoon and I had to go to the store to get some groceries for my mom so she could cook… Daisy, my two sisters, and my mother stayed home. I left the house and was gone only a few minutes…only to discover my house was on fire. I dropped the bag that was in my arms and just froze…

I didn't remember when the firemen came, but by then it was all too late. The only survivor they could find was Daisy…"

An awkward silence followed by the opening of the bedroom door.

"And that was all because of Mom's help." Ash and Misty turned to see who was speaking. There she stood, fearfully yet pitifully, Daisy with her arms crossed as her unwashed hair covered her cold expression. Misty instantly felt her heart sink.

"Daisy, what're you-"

"Don't give me any of that crap Misty! How many times have I told you before to never speak of our history?!" she screamed at the top of her voice. Ash instantly felt like jumping out of the window; he did NOT want to be here right now…

"Daisy what's wrong with you?! Why are you acting this way?" Misty retaliated back, standing up from her seat of the bed.

"_**You're the one that's been acting strangely Misty**_! Ever since you've been going to that boarding school you've distanced yourself from everybody! I don't even know what you're even _doing_ with that ratty orphan kid!" _**Ash immediately felt a heavy pressure press against his chest **_and he lowered his head wishing he could just disappear.

"Daisy! Why would you SAY something like that?!" Misty was going to blow up from the anger boiling within her.

"Because it's probably true. Why else would you go to a boarding school? Because you're either A) rich or B) an orphan with no home. _**Just like you**_," she added, accentuating each word as if it were a stab to the heart_**. Misty couldn't hold back any longer; she had to let go of what she kept inside no matter who was watching**_ _**or whose feelings it mattered to.**_

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU KILLED MY FAMILY, YOU MONSTER!!!!" she yelled at the top of her voice as she erupted into sobs. Daisy instantly uncrossed her arms and stared blankly at Misty as if she had sucked the very soul from her body with those words. Misty couldn't bear it any longer. She rushed past her sister who stood frozen in her place and ran down the stairs. Ash lifted himself up from the bed and ran after Misty, pausing for a brief moment to glance sideways at Daisy. Her face was frozen in that blank stare of hers as she gazed through the window, with only a faint tear glistening from her eye.

He ran out of the open door and ran after Misty, _**making sure he wouldn't lose sight of her**_.

/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\

She was done; that was it. She wanted the day to finish as fast as it could so she could put this whole nightmare behind her. She rubbed her eyes as she cried in loud gasps of air. The trees circled around her as she sat still on the large rock and she suddenly _**felt alone; alone like she had felt all of these years in the boarding school**_. But before, she felt completely empty inside whenever she was this sad…Now…Now, she felt as if there was a faint glistening of hope within her; _**as if she was waiting for someone to come and lift her up and carry her away**_. She then realized that she had left Ash alone in the house so she stood up from her seat and began to walk out of the park.

She crossed through the trees, subconsciously since her mind was on something else, unaware of where she was going. _**As if appearing out of nowhere**_, a dark haired boy wearing a cap crashed into her. After collecting herself, Misty realized that it was Ash in front of her. She bashfully smiled, but she had a feeling of deep regret underneath it all for putting him through that terrible ordeal. Without hesitation or a thought's notice, Ash wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She was _**at first caught by surprise, **_but she quickly regained herself and slid her arms underneath his as her face turned warm. She rubbed her face against his neck and he immediately snapped back to reality. He let go and stared at her wildly as he blushed furiously. _**She was caught off guard again**_, but she smiled back at him warmly. She playfully punched him in the arm and began to walk away.

"Come on Ash, I think it's time we go back…" She turned around again and smiled at him which seemed to lift him.

He didn't know _why_ he reacted the way he did; _**ever since he met her, he had been changing**_. _**Slowly and gradually he felt himself regaining his life back.**_


	3. Part 3 Sunday

A/N:

Yeah sorry, I meant to have this up yesterday, but it just _completely_ slipped my mind! --; Here's the finale anyway:

**Sunday**:  
BANG BANG BANG

"WAKE UP! It's time for class _roomie_." Ash turned uneasily and uncomfortably in the closet. His back was against the wall and his legs were curled up into him awkwardly. He stretched and yawned loudly. He was definitely not in the mood to go back to class. Especially to Miss _Goodwill's_… Whoever gave her that last name was sadly mistaken.

He was up on his feet and stretching his body. _**At least he'd have one thing to look forward to…**_  
/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\  
He was back in class. Back in his chair, back to being confused and most of all, back to being ignored. He ran his fingers through his hair as she began to go over Quadratic equations quickly as the other students around him copied what she wrote on the board onto their notebooks, absorbing all of this information as if their minds were sponges. He glanced around again and looked sadly next to the person who was _supposed_ to sit next to him.

_**Misty hadn't shown up…**_ Maybe she was sick and needed a day off… Whatever the reason was, Ash knew _**this was going to be a rough go without her around**_…  
/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\  
He climbed to the top of the hill and collapsed face forward onto the ground. He remained still until he turned around and looked up weakly at the sky. Algebra class had completely wiped the energy out of him. The whole class his mind was busy thinking about _her_ that he couldn't seem to focus on anything else. Miss Goodwill caught him spacing out and asked him for the question to the problem on the board. Not that he would've gotten it anyway, but it was still embarrassing to be snatched away from a daydream in that way and in front of everyone.

He stood up slowly and looked towards Cerulean City thoughtfully. The sky was dark, the day was blue, and everything was quiet and unmoving in the city as if no one was inside. What if she was still thinking about the other day? What if she had done something…to herself?

He was worried now. She was fine the next days after that so he didn't know why she would still be affected. _**Maybe she had hidden her true feelings… **_That's it. He was convinced that something had happened to her, whether she did it to herself or someone else did it was the real question, but what he knew, he had to go find her. He climbed off the side of the hill and slid down the rocky steep cliff. _**He knew the road to finding Misty would be hard and confusing,**_ but _**he had to find her**_; for _**her sake**_ and _**his**_.  
/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\  
He jumped off the cliff once he got to the bottom and landed safely on the hard ground. He looked around at his surroundings; he was on the outskirts of a forest and just beyond that forest would be Cerulean City. He stopped for a moment and began to think.

"_**Where could she be?**__ Could she be in the forest…or could she be in the city? Why would she be in the forest though? But…what would she be doing in the city? ARGH! Think!_" He slammed his hands against the side of his head as he grunted in frustration. Suddenly, he felt extremely light headed.

"_Not this again…_" he thought. He began to get this sensation yesterday in the middle of lunch; luckily Misty was there to help him out by letting him rest on her lap, but now…_**he was alone. He had to make it on his own.**_ He grasped his forehead as he began to stagger about, his other hand searching blindly for a steady surface to hold onto. It landed on a tree and he stood there for a moment, waiting for the sensation to pass. His vision grew blurry and he began to sweat profusely. His breath increased rapidly and he felt as if he was going to pass out.

"_I can't_… I WON'T!" he yelled at the top his voice, letting go of the tree as he stood up straight defiantly. Slowly, he was beginning to succumb to it again. His head spun and he felt as if he was losing control of his body as he walked dizzily, leaning forward more than he should. He tripped on his foot and fell face forward onto the ground. He didn't have anymore strength left in him to continue. His eyes drooped until they were finally shut. _**The world around him began to fade away**_, with the sound of a girl crying in the distance…  
/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\  
_Everything around him was __**dark**__**This world was much colder, much colder than the other one that had just faded away from him**__. In this world, __**he was all alone**__. There was no one here…__**no one**__ here __**to comfort **__him, __**no one **__here __**to help **__him, __**no one **__here __**to give **__him __**strength**__…But…he knew someone was depending on HIM to pull through; someone waiting for HIM to come to the __**light**__. Slowly he picked himself off the ground…_  
/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\  
His mind started to work again. He looked around dimly as he began to regain his vision. _**He was back on his feet, ready to fight. Fight for him and for Misty.**_ He looked at the forest intently now that all of his senses returned to him. He needed to figure out where Misty could've gone to… But how? He racked his brain over it, trying to find an answer when the wind began to brush against him. He looked around curiously for a moment then went back to thinking. The wind blew harder until it swept his cap off. He jumped up to catch it before the wind could carry it away. The wind died down and Ash went back to thinking though he was wondering why the wind was acting so strangely. Suddenly, a strange gust began to blow, one that seemed to carry Ash gently as it howled something faint. He sharpened his hearing as he tried to make out what it was saying.

"_**… … … Ash… Ash… Ash… Ash…**_" The wind rocked him from side to side as he wondered with curiosity. Why was the wind calling his name?

It changed directions and began to blow the opposite way as it continued to call his name, though it grew fainter. He thought for a moment as he stood still.

"_What if I followed the wind? Would it lead me somewhere? Maybe I HAVE to follow the wind…_" He threw his instincts to the wind and began to follow the path that the wind was drawing out for him.  
/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\  
He weaved through trees as he sprinted madly through the forest. The wind kept blowing behind him, howling his name faintly. He quickened his pace as he passed through the trees until he reached the end of the forest. He stopped and looked around quickly at his surroundings. He was now facing Cerulean City, the border of the town and forest represented by a small white wall. He closed his eyes and focused on the wind again.

"… … …" It was silent. "… … …" The wind had stopped moving. "… … …" He was stuck. He opened his eyes and sat down on the ground and laid back, his face completely blank. After all the trouble he had gone through, he was now STUCK. In the middle of nowhere… With no idea on how to get back. He picked himself up quickly and slammed his hat against the floor as he stomped on it angrily. His breaths came in short, quick gasps of air as his chest heaved up and down. As he began to calm down he suddenly heard something very faint and far away.

"_**Why? Why did you leave me?**_" He turned around and saw that the voice was coming from the forest. He walked slowly to the origin of the voice as he disappeared into the forest.  
/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\  
The trees covered the sky, covering the ground in pitch black shadows only allowing a few glimpses of light escape from its leaves. He looked on intently as he followed what he could make out to be someone's cries. He approached a thick bush and pushed it aside. Directly in front of him were dark black iron gates with an arching stone sign that hung above it. The moss that was spreading over the old gates covered the sign and its letters, but Ash continued forward as the voice grew clearer. He pushed the heavy gates open and walked inside.

It was all quiet, quiet in an eerie way… He looked around and suddenly he began to see why. Grey tombstones stuck out of the ground and they dotted the land. He felt a chill creep up his spine, but he brushed it off. He looked around for the voice until he found the source. Hunched before a large tombstone was a red haired girl, crying softly as she held a bouquet of flowers in her arms. He walked closer to her until he was right behind her.

"…_**Are you okay Misty**_?" She turned around quickly with a look of surprise. She stood up and looked him in the eyes.

"Ash, what are you doing here?" He avoided her gaze and responded guiltily as he hid his face underneath his cap.

"I was wondering where you were. I guess I was kind of worried…" She smiled and took off his cap so he could look at her.

"You didn't have to worry about me Ash… I feel just fine," she lied, but it was enough to convince him. She then turned around and looked at the bouquet of flowers that rested on the grave.

"What's the matter Misty?" Ash asked calmly. Tears began to fall down from Misty's eyes, but she didn't falter.

"Today marked the _**fourth**_ anniversary of the fire in my house…" Ash's eyes widened in surprise and he sympathized with her.

"I'm sorry Misty…"

"It's OK Ash… I feel fine, honest." But as she said it, her eyes welled up with tears and she turned away quickly. He stepped forward to hold her, but he stopped once she turned to look at him. She looked down at the ground unsurely then looked up back at him.

"Ash…where are your parents?" He looked away and said sadly,

"They've been dead for ten years…" She then stayed quiet until she came closer to him. She embraced him in a tight hug as her tears ran from her eyes. He smiled and hugged her back. As she rested her head on his shoulder, he looked past it and saw the tombstone that she laid the bouquet on. The first name of the person was covered by moss, but the rest of it read:

" Waterflower  
_**An Ageless Melody Lives**_"

Misty saw that he was looking at the tomb so she let go and turned towards it.

"That's my mother's grave." Ash nodded in acknowledgement as she continued. "She used to play the flute which relates to what the bottom inscription means. During the fire as the firemen were trying to find someone, they could hear the sound of a flute. As they followed the tone, they had stumbled across Daisy who had twisted her ankle. They tried to find the flute again, but after they found Daisy, it wasn't heard of again…" Ash looked back at her in shock. So that's what Daisy meant when she said it was all because of her mom that she was still alive... They both looked thoughtfully at the tombstone in silence until Ash broke it with a simple question.

"So where _is_ Daisy now?"

"The last time that I spoke to her was in the morning just after leaving the school. She was at my other sisters' graves because they were buried somewhere else. I had apologized to her and she accepted it. She was very sad though so I stayed with her for a while until I left…" Again Ash nodded in understanding and they continued to look at the tombstone.

"It wasn't _really_ her fault for causing the fire…" Ash looked at her curiously and tears began to well up in her eyes again. "On that day, when I had left to go to the store, I had left _**my bike **_inside the house because I had forgotten it. When Daisy went to light the candle in our living room, she had tripped over the _**bike**_ and accidently lit the rug on fire with the match she was holding in her hand. The rug quickly caught on fire and began to spread all over the house since the carpet was all the same material. After that day, I'm never going to have carpets in my house." Misty smiled weakly at her joke, but it quickly faded away.

"It was such a dumb accident, but unfortunately, it was also a fatal one... So in a way, it was also my fault that my family is dead now."

"Don't say that!" Ash yelled, but her face was already washed in tears. She began to sob loudly and she put her face in her hands as she collapsed onto the floor. He crouched down and picked her off the ground gently and held her in his arms. She wiped away the tears and sniffled.

"It's strange though Ash…" He looked on intently and quietly as she calmed down and straightened herself out, to the point where she was looking him straight in the eyes. "_**The day before I met you**_, _**I got in a big fight with Daisy when I was visiting her**_. During that night, I had a strange dream that I saw the silhouette of a boy with a cap with his hand stretched out for me as I was falling down a pit. You caught me and managed to save me…" He continued to stay quiet though now he felt his blood rushing through him as she spoke.

"What I think the dream meant was that you were going to come and save me in real life; because I didn't have the will to keep going after that day… That's why when I saw you; I was so excited I couldn't contain myself!" She smiled widely at him as she looked him directly in the eyes. "You've done so much for me Ash… _**I don't think you will ever know…**_"

He was hypnotized by her eyes. He felt himself being sucked into them and slowly, his body was obeying. He stepped closer to Misty and his face gradually came closer to hers. She at first hesitated, but quickly decided against it and followed suit. They were getting closer, closer, until…  
/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\  
_Their lips pressed against each other and a shot of warmth was injected into him, __**a sensation he had never felt before in his life**__. Suddenly __**the world grew cold around him**__… He felt himself getting dizzy again and the __**light**_

Sight: Her delicate face lay extremely close to his, just a few inches away.

Sound: Her soft breaths echoed in his ear.

Smell: Her hair had the aroma of flowers and her perfume was enlivening.

Taste: A strange taste was in his mouth; he could taste this girl's breath…

Touch: Her soft lips were pressed against his and his eyes shot open in surprise.

He sat up immediately, throwing Misty off of him. At first she was surprised and shocked to see him alive, but she quickly grabbed him in a tight hug as she sobbed onto his shoulder.

"Ash I thought you were a goner!" she managed to say after choking on her words.

"_**…Are you okay Misty?**_" Ash said smiling as if he was unaffected by the kiss she had given him.

"Why…yeah of course I am! I'm just so relieved to see you're alive…" she said wiping away a tear from her eye.

"Yeah and after a kiss like that, who wouldn't be doing fine?!" a man with brown spiky hair and squinty eyes replied sarcastically before being pelted in the head by a red and white sphere thrown by Misty who was blushing at his comment.

"Wait…was that… a pokeball?" Ash struggled as he attempted to regain his memory. Both Misty and the man looked back at him with concern.

"Yeah it was Ash…don't you remember?" Misty asked her voice deep with worry.

"Kind of…" Ash replied uneasily as he scratched his head.

"And don't you remember your number one best friend?" The man with spiky hair lifted up a yellow rodent with long ears and a lightning bolt shaped tail. It took a moment for Ash to remember before he realized who he was looking at.

"PIKACHU!" Ash opened his arms as Pikachu leapt into them, giving Ash a small shock of affection and relief to see his trainer alive. _**Suddenly a brief flash of a hand drawn sketch of Pikachu appeared in his head.**_

"And your name is…Brock, right?" Ash said pointing to the man with squinty eyes. He smiled back and nodded as he patted him on the shoulder.

"Do you remember my name?" Misty asked smiling at Ash.

"I would never forget your name…Melody." Ash said sheepishly.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!" Misty said exploding in anger before Ash laughed and embraced her in a hug.

"I'm just kidding Misty."

"Hmm, the blast of that explosion must still be affecting Ash's brain. I've never seen him react this way before," Brock thought aloud with a smirk. Misty threw him a glare as Ash turned around curiously.

"What explosion?"

"Well before you were knocked into that coma, you were battling Mewtwo," Brock stated matter-of-factly.

"Mewtwo..." _**Another black and white sketch flashed in his mind, jogging his memory**_ "...where?" Ash looked around at his surroundings for the first time. They were in the middle of a wide and open warehouse with debris scattered everywhere. In the tall ceiling, there was a big gaping hole towards the middle of it, but no Mewtwo.

"Mewtwo is gone, Ash," Misty said calmly.

"Gone?"

"He left after that huge explosion I was telling you about," Brock started. "See this is what happened: We were tracking down Team Rocket who was tracking down Mewtwo who was tracking down Mew. The four of us managed to get in this warehouse for some unknown reason and soon, a huge battle ensued. Basically, towards the end, it was everyone against Mewtwo. He had gotten out of control and we had to stop him. So you being the hero that you are, _bravely_ yet stupidly confronted Mewtwo face to face. He then began to charge up a Shadow Ball in the palms of his hands and at that time was when Pikachu jumped in since you weren't planning on moving. He crashed into the energy ball, causing it to explode, wrapping everyone in a huge dust cloud. Once it cleared, we saw Mewtwo managed to survive the attack and left before Team Rocket could lay their hands on him. Mew stayed behind and healed Pikachu, but couldn't do anything about you." Brock took in a deep breath and before he could continue with the story, Misty cut in.

"You were lying on the floor still so we all had feared the worst, despite how hard we tried to save you…" She said sadly, but calmly.

"You should've seen Misty. Mewtwo himself couldn't pry her off of you!" Brock quipped again before getting stomped on the foot by a blushing Misty.

"That's weird then…" Ash replied thoughtfully. Everyone looked at him curiously as he began to reflect on his _**'out of body experience.'**_

"I had a weird dream, or maybe it wasn't a dream? Who knows, but it was so…strange. I can't seem to explain it..." He looked up and saw that everyone was giving him strange looks, especially Misty. Once he had come to a conclusion in his own mind that maybe his experiences in St. Delia's Boarding School _was_ real, he smiled at Misty and got closer to her. Before she could get away, he grabbed her by the waist and pushed her against him in a quick, but emotional kiss. Her eyes widened and she stepped back in surprise, tripping on her own foot in the process.

"What was that for?!" she yelled back in astonishment, her face matching the color of a tomato as she sat still on the hard floor.

"That was for everything you've done for me…" Ash replied calmly back with a faint smile. He looked up at the sky then at her as she looked back at him unsurely; her cheeks still tainted a faint pink.

"And also because I love you Misty…" She opened her mouth, but he quickly cut in. "You're the only one that made me realize that… I don't know how, all I know is that you just _did_." Then with a smile he added:

"I guess _**No One Knows But You**_."

A/N:

Well that's it, now I'm going to paste up the explanations for everything and why I chose the ending that I did. (Trust me, it was for a good reason)

A brief note, this story was taken directly from Serebiiforums since that's where I got my start and that's where I'm going to continually write stories, I just felt like bringing this story here since it was well received over there, but didn't have that many readers. Onto the explanations!

**Explanation**:  
This is going to be a long explanation for each individual hint so first I'll get the symbolic explanation of the dream out of the way.

The dream that Ash experiences his 'awakening.' At the start of his dream (or his journey since the dream world parallels the real one), Ash is alone and lonely, with no one to care for. As the dream continues on though, he meets Misty and everything is changed. Until the end of the dream, Ash and Misty finally confess (which is when I suspect their actual confession will happen on the show if it does happen). Directly after that confession, Ash 'wakes up' to the real world to find Misty kissing him in an attempt to 'wake him up.' He finally does 'wake up' because he realizes his and her feelings for each other and also he actually gets up from laying on the floor.

So basically that is why I decided to go with the whole dream thing. I thought it would be a good idea as well as a good metaphor, but then again, I can't change the minds of my readers.

Also, a brief note on the boarding school: it is symbolic of Cerulean City of the anime. I considered changing the name, but decided against it.

Hopefully everyone understood that! Here are the explanations for each hint. I've divided them in parts and if we read it along with each chapter, you'll see that the hints are in the order that they appear in. Also, I separated the categories of the two since there were two kinds of hints in this story, Ones that relate to Pokeshipping and the other vaguer ones that relate to the ending of the story.

**Part I:**

Hints to the Show:  
**_The Boy that Nobody Cares About or Cares to Listen to_**  
The boy that 'no one cares about' is metaphorically Ash's inner feelings. He ignores them as well as everyone in the show because the writers make them that way so in that sense, his inner feelings are suppressed and we don't get to see them a lot in the show. So basically, the two main characters in the dream are symbols for each of their inner feelings for each other; Ash the confused and lonely one so he knows nothing about love and Misty who is sure of herself since she is a self-proclaimed romantic, but also very delicate, evidenced by her emotional breakdowns in the story.

**_Living on the road for ten years_**  
The ten years on the road represent his journey as of now.

**_I'll just wind up losing her…_**  
In the show we haven't seen her in a long time so that's already happened.

**_Figure out her intentions..._**  
Her intentions towards Ash are still a mystery to everyone since it is not clear as of now since she has not stated them (and no, I don't believe Misty's song since that was something made in a dub; in other words, it's something the Americans made and not the Japanese who created the series)

Hints to the Ending:  
**_Mentions of names _**  
The mentions of either Ash or Misty's name are said by Misty in real life. As he is lying still on the ground in the real world, she is trying to wake him up by yelling his name (notice the expression marks such as the ! or ? or …)

**_Pocket Monsters/something specific about Pikachu's and Mewtwo's sketch_**  
It's a hint that throws back to the fact that maybe Pokemon are real, just not in this world since Ash in the dream world is completely affected by them.

**Part II:**

Hints to the Show:  
**_Yet not close enough to catch her_**  
Ash had many opportunities in the show to make Pokeshipping canon (more specifically in GCYL), but he never succeeded in doing it.

**_Four years_**  
Misty has been out of the main cast for four years since the airing of Gotta Catch Ya Later in 2003.

**_Garden Court and Yellow Lane_**  
When all four words are abbreviated, they spell out GCYL or Gotta Catch Ya Later, the episode when Ash and Misty split up, which is why when Misty encounters that junction, she is at a crossroads and very hesitant to continue on even though she knows she must (which is what also happens in the show)

**_The picture of the four sisters together_**  
Shows that they exist in real life even though they are gone in this dream world

**_We used to be a family… Nobody could separate us_**  
Relates to Ash, Misty, and Brock, NOT her real life family. Before GCYL, they were inseparable (excluding Orange Islands )

**_Make the reality less impactful_**  
Once they did split up, it was a big shot to the Pokeshipping world since without interaction between both characters in the ship, it's kind of hard to keep it alive. Still though, Pokeshipping is still alive thanks to her cameos in the show and in Hosos (or Pokemon Chronicles as it is called in America)

**_They had so many things in common_**  
Ash and Misty actually have a lot of things in common in the show: short temper, passion for Pokemon which is reflected in the story by the fact that they both lost their parents, go to the same school, a fire severely affected their lives, etc.

**_Tried to wrap his mind around Misty and her character_**  
Many people have tried to wrap their minds around Misty and what her purpose on the show is though unfortunately; we haven't gotten an answer yet 

**_You're the one that's been acting strangely Misty_**  
Again it relates to Misty on the show and her sudden personality changes as well as the drought we have in Pokeshipping hints as of now.

**_Misty couldn't hold back any longer; she had to let go of what she kept inside no matter who was watching or whose feelings it mattered to_**  
Just a hint and opinion for the future of Pokeshipping that I felt like dropping in there. Hopefully sometime in the future of the anime, Misty will let out her pent up feelings for him and confess. 

**_Felt alone; alone like she had felt all of these years in the boarding school_**  
Another easy hint that relates to the show. Basically, it just stands for Misty's (permanent?) stay in Cerulean and how she spends most of her time alone because let's face it: Tracey's not there 24/7 and neither are her sisters.

**_As if she was waiting for someone to come and lift her up and carry her away_**  
Relates to Ash and how he always comes to her rescue. Now we are just waiting for him to come back to her again and take her from away from Cerulean!

**_As if appearing out of nowhere/ at first caught by surprise/She was caught off guard again_**  
All of these hints relate to Ash and Misty's first encounter by the river. Ash appears out of nowhere as Misty is fishing in the river and she is surprised to see she caught a boy (not to mention the guy of her dreams! XD) and then is once again surprised to see the condition Pikachu is in.

Hints to the Ending:  
**_The blue eyes in his dream_**  
It's Ash gaining consciousness in real life for just a second. His vision is blurry and the only thing he can see is Misty looking back at him with concern.

**_Kind of connection between this girl and him_**  
The connection that Misty shares with him in both worlds is that he has feelings for both of them; the second one though is helping him realize that.

**_Ash immediately felt a heavy pressure press against his chest_**  
The pressure is Misty in real life putting pressure on his chest to try and revive him. One of many strange sensations he senses as he is unconscious in real life.

**_Making sure he wouldn't lose sight of her_**  
This hint relates to the ending because throughout the fic, he never really loses sight of the real life Misty, always in some way encountering her in each chapter.

Hint for Both:  
**_Ever since he met her, he had been changing. Slowly and gradually he felt himself regaining his life back._**  
A Hint that relates to both?! Shocking I know Before he met Misty, Ash was always a stubborn obnoxious brat and also pretty dumb when it came to pokemon battling… well actually he was just plain dumb! XD After a while, both of them began to change and they matured a lot more. Oh and it relates to the story by the fact that, if you didn't notice, as the story progresses and as they get to know each other more, Ash begins to his confidence in himself a bit more and by the end, he is restored back to normal.

**Part III:**

Hints to the Show:  
**_At least he'd have one thing to look forward to…_**  
Or in this case, something for the Pokeshippers to look forward to. Every time Misty is going to appear on the show, we always keep a place of hope in our hearts in case if the writers ever feel like they want to drop some PSing our way. 

**_Misty hadn't shown up/ this was going to be a rough go without her around_**  
Relates to the ending of the Battle Frontier since Misty didn't show up like she did at the end of the Hoenn League, which left some of the Pokeshippers (and regular viewers) with a big question mark as to her whereabouts and a question of Pokeshipping's future in general (though most of us are optimistic! )

**_Maybe she had hidden her true feelings_**  
What it translates to is "Maybe Misty is hiding her true feelings for Ash for now…" in the case of the anime.

**_He knew the road to finding Misty would be hard and confusing_**  
Basically speaks about Ash's journey to get to know Misty's true feelings and since we all know him as the incredibly dense Ash, it'll definitely be a hard and confusing one since he is not as educated in love as some others.

**_He had to find her/for her sake/his_**  
If he truly finds 'her,' they would be a lot happier together. The reason I put her in quotation marks is because the person I'm talking is not Misty in general, but her inner feelings, similar to the Ash we see in the dream.

**_Where could she be?_**  
Again, this speaks about Misty's current whereabouts and our question of where she could be.

**_He was alone/He had to make it on his own_**  
Speaks about Ash's current status without Misty. He's without Misty so if he wants to make Pokeshipping canon (as in realize his feelings for her), he's gonna have to do it by himself for now.

**_Dark/This world was much colder, much colder than the other one that had just faded away from him/light_**  
These hints help accentuate the differences between the two worlds Ash lives in: The Dream World, or the light world, is where he has Misty and he is generally a happier person, where in comparison the Real World, or the dark world, is one without Misty and he is still searching blindly for her.

**_No one/to comfort/no one/to help/no one/to give/strength_**  
When read side by side, it makes more sense: no one to comfort, no one to help, no one to give strength. In the chapters before this one, Ash does all of these things to Misty so in a sense, what it means is that this cold world that he was in was without Misty's love since he has no one to do these things to.

**_Why? Why did you leave me?_**  
This speaks about Misty's frustration with leaving the cast. If you look in GCYL, you'll see that Misty wasn't too particularly happy with leaving the main cast.

**_Fourth_**  
Same thing as the four years hint in the previous chapter, it's how long Misty's been away from the main cast.

**_An Ageless Melody Lives_**  
Alright this one's a biggie. Abbreviated, it spells AAML and as we all know AAML also stands for Ash and Misty's Love. The reason it's on a tombstone though is because most people regard it as a "dead" ship since there has been a dry spell in hints. So as you can see, symbolically, Misty is grieving over the loss of the shipping and not her "mother."

**_My bike/bike_**  
The bike caused the fire and killed Misty's family forcing her to move to the boarding school. If it wasn't for the bike, Misty never would've met Ash…Sound familiar? Because of the bike in the show, Ash and Misty met and started this oh so wonderful ship. 

**_The day before I met you, I got in a big fight with Daisy when I was visiting her_**  
Another hint that relates to the very beginning of Pokeshipping; we learn later on in the episode that introduces us to Cerulean City as well as Misty's sisters, that Misty had gotten in a big fight with her sisters and soon after that though she met Ash. The whole day after thing though is just a guess. 

**_I don't think you will ever know…_**  
This is a pessimistic view on Pokeshipping that basically says she doesn't think Ash will ever know about her true feelings towards him and the show will end without a mention of Pokeshipping. Sad I know… BUT there is a ray of hope since directly after she says that, they kiss for the first time. 

**_A sensation he had never felt before in his life._**  
I don't think Ash has ever mentioned that he was in love in the show so as you can see, this hint relates to that fact.

Hints to the Ending:  
**_He was back on his feet, ready to fight. Fight for him and for Misty_**  
As I said before this, this whole dream Ash has is his awakening. This hint helps add to that: Ash now has the motivation to find Misty and affirm his love for her

**_"… … … Ash… Ash… Ash… Ash…"_**  
The "wind's voice" is really Ash subconsciously hearing Misty from the real world as she looks over him. As in all dreams in real life, sometimes you will hear sounds that happen in real life and it will translate over to your dream (such as an alarm clock's beep or something in place of someone's voice. It has happened to me occasionally which is why I added it to the story)

**_"…Are you okay Misty?"_**  
Just something I wanted to add, it has no real particular significance. If you notice Ash asks this question both in the Dream world and in the Real world as well after he sees Misty.?

**_The world grew cold around him/light_**  
Again, this is the transition between each world: one world where he doesn't have Misty and the other he does.

**_I love you Ash… Ash… Ash… Ash…_**  
Ah the words that all Pokeshippers wish to hear. The end words are there to change the story once Ash wakes up; he continually hears his name again as Misty in real life says it aloud. Whether or not she told him in real life that she loved him or not is up to debate. 

**_He was still trapped inside the cold world_**  
Ash is now without Misty's love, but as he begins to 'awaken' (remember what I said about the dream really being his awakening?), all of his senses come back to him and he is back to normal.

**_Suddenly a brief flash of a hand drawn sketch of Pikachu appeared in his head/another black and white sketch flashed in his mind, jogging his memory_**  
These were the sketches drawn by Misty in his dream that had such an effect on him. Why did they have such an effect? Because they were real!

**_No One Knows But You_**  
Obviously the name of this fic. It has a double meaning though: It speaks about Misty's secrecy of her true feelings (one of the main themes throughout this story) and the way that Ash finally realized _his_ true feelings for her; he had no clue how he happened upon it of all places in his dream, so he guesses Misty somehow got into his dream and made him realize that. Weird huh?


End file.
